Expanding European and Asian markets
Mahindra acquires 60% stake in Origin Fruit Direct
“Our investment into OFD Holding BV gives us a presence in the European and Chinese markets, allowing us to reach new customers and strengthen our relationship with existing customers. We look forward to growing and building our grapes business together with them," said Vikram Puri, Executive Vice President, of Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd.
For MASL this combines excellently with their vision. Ashok Sharma, President- Agribusiness and MD & CEO- Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd. said, “It takes us closer to achieving our vision of being a significant global player in grapes. We have been working with farmers in India for a very long time and this association will bring in a lot of synergy by giving access to new markets to our farmers.”
Corné van de Klundert, MD OFD Holding BV & Origin Fruit Direct BV said “OFD was founded in 2006 as the sales operation of a South African producer, and has since developed a network of key retail customers in Europe as well as Asia. India is an increasingly important supplier of grapes to our markets and Mahindra is one of the largest exporters, which is giving us access to a growing volume of excellent quality grapes.”
Origin Fruit Direct’s (OFD) presence in grapes and citrus fruits naturally mitigates seasonality through round-the-year presence across markets and sources. "This acquisition gives access to a large sourcing base to both the companies across the globe i.e. India, South American countries and South Africa as well as a distribution base in Europe (the biggest importer, contributing 24% of global imports of grapes) and China (fastest growing importer with 31% CAGR)."
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